Back in the day, rap stars such as Run-D.M.C. and L.L. Cool J liked to pose the rhetorical question, “Is it live?” The rhetorical response, in the case of local artist John Park, would be a resounding “yes.”

Park can be found weekly at Copa D’Oro near Broadway and Second Street in Santa Monica (every Thursday night from 5:30 p.m.-1 a.m.) and at Venice’s Canal Club on Pacific Avenue (Fridays) painting easels in the middle of a thriving restaurant crowd.

“All these pieces were started live,” Park, surrounded by half-a-dozen massive canvases, told The Argonaut at CAVE Gallery on Abbot Kinney Boulevard, where his recent exhibit, Gorilla Warfare, came to a close earlier this month. Read More...